For 13 decades, Oberlin Baptist Church adhered to a key tradition
in Southern and black Baptist churches - only men could serve as pastor.

Then,
in 2010, the church fired its pastor and started inviting both men and
women in to preach on Sundays.

"We just wanted to fill the pulpit"
each week, head deacon Swade Sanders said.

Church members figured Sherri Arnold Graham of Fayetteville would be
just another in the parade of guest preachers. But by the end of her
sermon, the church was ready for its world to shift on its axis.

"It
just struck us," Sanders said. "This is the one."

That was in
July. Within days of Graham's guest sermon, Sanders asked her to be the
church's interim pastor. In December, the job became permanent. Now,
Oberlin members beam over their new pastor, saying her energy, ideas,
spirituality and teaching have brought new life, new members and new
purpose to a church that had been stagnant and struggling.

Graham
is relishing her first pastoring job after working for years in
ministerial roles in Baptist churches in Fayetteville and Raleigh. She
said she had long wanted to shepherd a church but had wondered whether
she would get a chance because of Baptist traditions.

She had a
feeling about Oberlin Baptist Church from the start. "I just felt
connected upon my arrival," she said. "I just felt God's presence and I
felt I might be able to be a blessing and to lead these people ... in
this leg of their journey."

Organized by freed slaves in the 1870s
and formally established in 1880, Oberlin Baptist has about 100
members, including some who are descendants of the church's founders.
Several members live in other towns and drive 30 minutes to 45 minutes
one way to get to the church.

The church is proud of its past. But
now it is looking to the future with new eyes.

"She's pushing the
congregation to a whole new level," said Julia Green, a lifelong member
of the church. "She's like a dynamo, a phenom."